How Oscar de la Renta's First Posthumous Exhibit Came Together at SCAD

Just four months after Oscar de la Renta's passing shook the industry, the first posthumous exhibit of his work bowed at the Savannah College of Art & Design. It was just one of several fashion exhibits that the school's esteemed trustee Andre Leon Talley has curated over the years, and it was undoubtedly the most personal for him as a close friend of the late designer.

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The process of putting it together is almost as interesting as the exhibit itself, as seen in a new documentary — told not from the perspective of ALT, but rather one SCAD student who found herself at the center of the exhibit's creation. Sloane Mayberry had interned for Oscar de la Renta under the company's archivist, and when she heard SCAD was planning an exhibit, she told her former supervisor she'd love to help. The next day, she had an email from Talley himself and spent the next several weeks working on the exhibit every moment she wasn't in class.

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The film is a rare, intimate look at what goes into creating a fashion exhibition, like handling such stunning, delicate pieces — from gowns worn by A-list celebrities to more personal items like de la Renta's daughter's wedding dress — as well as creating sets and photographing each piece for an accompanying Rizzoli book, "Oscar de la Renta: His Legendary World of Style," due out this September.

Sloane Mayberry at the exhibit's opening night. Photo: SCAD

The documentary, "Ovation for Oscar: An Exhibition at SCAD Museum of Art," was created entirely by SCAD students, faculty and alumni and debuted at the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival. The film debuts publicly here on Fashionista. You can watch it below.

Disclosure: SCAD paid for my travel and accommodations to Savannah for the exhibit opening.

On Monday, Oscar de la Renta will accept the Founders Award at the glitzy annual CFDA Awards--which he actually helped start back in 1981. It's a pretty big honor, and one that will be presented to him by none other than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. However, the outspoken designer told Bridget Foley in a recent interview that he would actually rather be up for designer of the year.
De la Renta candidly expressed many more of his bold opinions over a lunch date interview with Alexander Wang (one of the designers he'd be competing with if he was up for designer of the year), which Style.com documented.
What we're saying is, more reasons to love Oscar de la Renta, right his way:

Oscar de la Renta appeared on CBS This Morning today to chat with his apparent bff Charlie Rose about his new exhibit at the Clinton Library in Arkansas, still wanting to dress the first lady, John Galliano, and, of course, Anthony Weiner (yep, all the bases were covered).